The Cat and the Strawberry
by Siren of the Moon
Summary: Amu works hard as a bartender in a busy restaurant. She has everything she wants, a well-paid job, a nice flat, friends and family. Well, except a relationship. So, what happens when a certain cat turns up in her flat when she goes home from work one night? Amuto.
1. Strawberry Bartender

**Strawberry Bartender**

It was the middle of December and snow was drifting slowly down from the darkening night sky. The streets of Seiyo were packed with late night shoppers whose arms were lost amongst many large plastic bags and still trying to put more on remaining fingers. Men trailed behind their partners, looking glum, as they tried to carry everything that was passed to them, wishing only to leave and go home where it was warm, quiet and the promise of TV was awaiting them. Children ran in among the crowds, mothers running after them, attempting and failing to control them.

Around lamp posts and hung along buildings were rows upon rows of twinkling Christmas lights and Christmas trees were beautifully decorated in shop windows. Festive music played all around from loudspeakers, singing about snow, presents, family and friends. Restaurants were packed full as people splashed money on dining out. Oh, yes. Christmas was every restaurant's nightmare and dream.

In the high street, people waited outside in the cold outside an extremely busy restaurant. You had to be rich or know someone rich to be allowed to dine there. The reputation of The Cat and the Rose was high with pleasant and quick staff, delicious gourmet food and an enjoyable atmosphere. You had to book early and they were busy from the moment they opened until the moment they shut.

Inside, oak tables were laid with white tablecloths with either red or blue napkins beautifully folded underneath gleaming silverware. The seats were soft and comfortable, covered with dark blue velvet. Menus stood upright and clean, depicting a beautiful navy blue cat with its tail curled around it while a strawberry sat at its paws. The name of the restaurant had been written across the top in cursive writing while the inside held a list of all its delicious dishes.

The kitchen was open so everyone could see the chefs, dressed in nothing but white, preparing their meals. It was warm and jazz music played over the speakers while waiters and waitresses alike moved expertly and swiftly amongst tables, taking orders, serving drinks and food, placing the bill and cleaning them up again.

Taking up a full corner of the restaurant was a bar and behind it was a young woman of about twenty. She worked away as she mixed drinks, nodding when the waiters came to give her another set of orders. Her hair, a shocking bright pink, was pulled back into a high ponytail, revealing her face. Eyes that were the colour of liquid amber focused hard on the drinks she made, her long black eyelashes a stark contrast against her pale white skin. Her lips were plump and full and a dark red, the corners of them turned up in a slight smile.

She was dressed in the same uniform as everyone else but it was tailored to fit her correctly. A long sleeved white shirt was buttoned up to the colour, a black tie knotted around her neck. On top of both was a sleek black waistcoat, also buttoned which flaunted the evident curves of her body. Black slacks hugged her hips and covered a pair of long legs while she donned a pair of boots, also black, on her feet.

"Oi, Amu!" called a waiter from the end of the bar, grinning as she looked up. "Two Alabama Slammers and a Tequila Sunrise, please."

"Got it!" she called back as she washed out her cocktail shaker in the sink. "It's another busy night don't you think, Kukai?"

A wide grin spread across the young waiter's face as he ran a hand through his copper brown hair, ruffling it up. "Busy? This is nothing, Amu."

She smiled back, retrieving the tequila from a shelf above her. "I guess you're right. The fun hasn't even started. How's the new girl?"

He shrugged, emerald green eyes landing on a young redhead who was serving a table in the middle of the restaurant. "She's doing okay. She's energetic and cute so the customers like her enough to forgive her when she makes mistakes."

Amu took two glass from under the bar for the Alabama Sunrises. She grinned at Kukai. "If only you were cute, maybe they'd forgive you for your mistakes."

"Hey!" he cried indignantly. "I'll have you know that Utau thinks I'm cute!"

Amu rolled her eyes as she slipped two lemon wedges onto the rims of the glasses and set them on Kukai's serving tray. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go on. If I don't get another drinks order in two minutes, you're moving too slow."

He flashed her another wide grin as he picked up his tray and moved it to balance on the palm of his hand and his shoulder. "Thanks, Amu."

That was most nights for Amu. Making drinks as fast as possible, keeping everything in the bar area clean and chatting with the waiters when they came round. The pay was good and at twenty years old, she had moved out of her parents' house and into a large flat in a chic building with an amazing view of the city. There was very little for the woman to complain about.

Well, maybe there was one thing.

She was single.

And she hated it.

She had been single for a total sum of two years, her last boyfriend having come out gay (to be fair, she had had her suspicions). She had been on dates here and there, it wasn't that there was a shortage of guys, it was just that she didn't feel that she could make a lasting relationship with any of them. She wasn't a one night stand kind of girl. She was a stable relationship kind of girl.

Her friends were still trying to set her up but she had long since stopped listening to them, especially after Utau had tried to send her on a blind date. There was no way she was ever going to do that ever again.

"Two Palauxmas and a Watermelon Cucumber Cooler, please."

Amu looked up, snapped out of her thoughts about her dull relationship life, and saw the young red head who was on her fourth or fifth shift in the restaurant. Her name was Yaya, Amu managed to recall, and she was pretty enough, her curls held up with red ribbons and a slight baby face. It was hard to believe that the girl was eighteen, she looked so young.

"Thanks, Yaya. You doing okay?"

"Yaya's coping. Yaya's never worked in a place so busy before!" For whatever reason, Yaya seemed to talk in third person, constantly. Amu had a theory that it was to sell the cute, innocent appearance the girl had going.

"Yeah... Busy is one thing you could call this place." Amu replied, smiling slightly as she glanced around. "Still, the pay's good, no?"

"Yup! Yaya can now afford more duckies!" Oh, yeah. And the girl liked ducks.

Amu laughed lightly as she set the drinks on Yaya's tray and the girl hurried off. Well, kind off. The red head had to master the skill of carrying a tray full of drinks... Without losing most of the contents of the glasses.

The night went on and people came and went. All sorts of dishes were served and everyone was happy with the handsome amount of tips they'd earned. All of them enjoyed a drink, alcoholic or otherwise, at the end of the night as they wound down before retrieving coats and bags from the staff room at the back of the restaurant.

At the end of the night, Amu fetched her shoulder bag and pulled off the tie around her neck and undid the top button of her shirt. The cool night air was refreshing on her face as she walked to her car, slipping in and driving away from the building that, as she left, darkened behind her.

She was home in the early hours of the morning and, after taking the lift to one of the higher floors, let herself in. As she switched on the light in her living room, she got the fright of her life.

There, asleep on her sofa, was a tall young man. His dark blue hair fell across his face as he slept and his mouth was slightly open, his chest rising and falling with every breath he took.

She couldn't help herself. She screamed, "Ikuto?!"


	2. Surprise

**Surprise**

The young man on the sofa woke with a groan, his dark sapphire eyes squinting against the brightness of the light overhead. He blinked a couple of times, trying to get his blurry vision to clear while he rubbed a slender hand over his face, sweeping back the fallen strands of his dark blue hair. Eventually, he sat up, his long body uncurling to reveal his tall and lanky frame. His eyes landed on Amu.

"Yo," he greeted through a yawn. "Did you miss me?"

"Miss you?" she questioned, her eyes flashing with rage. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm Tsukiyomi Ikuto, I think. I'll have to check my birth certificate."

She groaned, closing her amber eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose as she took a few deep breaths. "How did you get in?"

"My sister, it seems, has your spare key. She let me in."

She was going to kill Utau when she next saw her. Upon handing over possession of her spare key to the blonde, she was pretty damn sure that she had not given permission for the woman to let in any strays. Particularly, tall and blue-haired strays.

"Well, you can't stay here. Leave."

"Aw, Amu," he pouted. "You would throw me out into the cold?"

She glared at him. "Yes, quite happily."

She moved away from him and set her bag down on the dining table along with her keys before spinning round to face him again. "You left me, Ikuto. No texts, no phone calls, no emails, not even a postcard. If it wasn't for Utau letting me know that you were actually alive, I wouldn't even know that much. Now, for the second time. Get. Out."

Ikuto was speechless. He hadn't realised that when he left that his leaving would cause Amu to be so upset. He didn't say another word but picked up the white violin case that lay next to the front door. He pulled it open and turned to look at Amu who was looking down at her feet, sighed and walked through it, closing the door again when he was on the other side. Amu flinched as it clicked upon closing. She dropped her head into her hands. She'd learned to move on from him. Why did he have to come back?

From inside her bag, she heard the familiar jingle of her ringtone and with a heavy sigh, moved to search for it. When her hands grasped the device, she glanced at the caller ID. Utau. Great.

"Hello, Utau."

"_Have you seen the surprise on your sofa?_"

"I just chucked your 'surprise' out. Utau, you know how I felt, how could you do that to me?"

There was a long pause on the other end. "_I thought you would be happy to see him._"

"Utau, he leaves for five years and doesn't stay in contact. How can I forgive him for that? He made me worry, Utau. He called you. Why couldn't he call me?"

"_He really missed you, Amu. He said so himself. He said that if he called you and heard your voice, he would have dropped everything and come back._"

"That's what I wanted him to do!" Amu cried, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"_You know he couldn't, Amu. He had to do what he did. For closure._"

Amu was silent, biting her lip and she turned to look at the door. "I guess..."

"_Look, Amu. He has nowhere to go. He can't stay with me and Kukai. We have no room. Besides, he didn't even want to. He hasn't got the money to stay in a hotel. Just put him up for a while. Please?_"

Amu sighed, giving into the blonde. "Fine but you owe me. Big time."

"_You're the best, Amu. Thank you so much._"

"Yeah, yeah. Speak to you later."

She hung up the phone and set it on the table before grabbing her keys and heading towards the door. It was the middle of December, it was the early hours of the morning and she had a cat to find.

* * *

><p>In hindsight, she probably should have asked Utau to call him for her. He was nowhere to be found and the city was huge. She'd been looking around and driving for hours now and hadn't seen him anywhere. He had nowhere to go. Where the hell could he be?<p>

She yawned as she slowed to a set of traffic lights, a group of drunks stumbling over the crossing in front of her. She was tired and wanted to go home and her search had proved fruitless. If Ikuto didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found. It was as simple as that. She would call Utau later and ask her to ring him, where ever he was.

Just as the lights turned green, she spotted a mop of blue hair in the near distance and the rounded top of a white case. Thanking whichever Gods who had had mercy on her, she drove ahead and honked her horn causing the young man to look up in alarm. She pulled up and wound down the passenger window.

"Get in. You can stay with me. But if you mess up my apartment, I will kill you."

He looked hesitant but, after a few moments, he got into the passenger seat into the warmth of the car which was a blessed relief from the bitter cold of the outdoors. Ikuto rubbed his hands together and cupped them round his mouth to blow on them, trying to generate heat. Amu felt sorry that she had kicked him out in the first place and mentally berated herself for not being more understanding of his situation.

* * *

><p>"Right, you can stay in here. It's a little cold as I don't normally have the heating on in this room but it should warm up shortly if you fancy a shower."<p>

Amu babbled away as she provided Ikuto with towels and turned up the radiator in the corner of the room. It wasn't a huge room but it was big enough for a double bed and a wardrobe, as well as a TV on the wall. The walls were plain and the carpet, plush and soft underfoot, was a rich purple. It would do nicely for a guest.

"You can help yourself to anything in the kitchen. I'm sure you're hungry and there's obviously the TV in the living room if you want to watch stuff on the bigger scre-" she paused mid-sentence when she caught him staring at her. "Everything alright, Ikuto?"

"I'm sorry, Amu."

"What for?"

"For not staying in contact with you over the last few years. I should have done, I'm sorry." he looked down at his feet, an unnatural move for the man.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and the smell of strawberries invade his nose. She was warm against him and he closed his eyes as he returned the hug gratefully, wrapping his own slender arms back around her. They stayed like that for a minute or so before parting.

"It doesn't matter, Ikuto." she told him after they separated. "I'm just glad you're safe."

On that note, she left him alone and headed to her own room where she stripped off her work clothes and left them in a heap on the floor before changing into a pair of long black pyjama pants and red t-shirt with a faded black cat on the front. She clambered into bed and set an alarm on her phone. Just as she was beginning to doze off, she heard the sound of running water as Ikuto took his shower. She fell asleep just as the morning sun began to rise.


End file.
